Ann (?)

Ann married Adam Hitch, son of ?? William Or John ?? Hitch and Unknown, about 1686. (Adam Hitch was born on 28 Sep 1658-13 Apr 1659 1 and died on 22 Jan 1731-15 Feb 1731 in Somerset Co., MD.)

Adam Hitch's Wives

There has been a long-standing "tradition," based upon primarily amateur genealogical studies, that Adam Hitch had two wives. The first, Hannah Elgate, daughter of William Elgate, has always been purported to have been mother to all of the Hitch children. Second, Adam Hitch married later in life to lady named Mary whose maiden name remains a question.

Both of these women were indeed wives of Adam Hitch; however, my research has uncovered some major inconsistencies that seem to indicate that Adam probably had two other wives - one of which was mother to the majority of his children. The following paragraphs lay out the findings and probable sequence of Adam Hitch's FOUR wives:

Wife Number 1 - Ann (_?_)

There is no doubt that Adam Hitch's first wife was named "Ann" as she appears as such in the old Somerset land records (Liber IKL) announcing the births of William (1687), Mary (1689), Adam Jr. (1691) and Solomon Hitch (1694). Also, Adam and "Ann" (or Anne) Hitch appear together in the land records when selling tracts in 1695 and 1700.

Over the years, many who had studied the Hitch family have assumed that "Ann" Hitch was just a shortened form of "Hannah" Hitch and that this was one person - nee Hannah ELGATE, daughter of William Elgate. This whole assumption seems to be based on the singular fact that William Elgate in his will (written 1727 and probated 1738) left land to "granddaughter Katherine Hitch." This report argues that this record in fact offers disputing evidence that Hannah Elgate was the first wife of Adam Hitch. From the evidence so far, we can ascertain that Adam was married to this Ann from 1686/87 to at least late 1700. We will further refine these dates later.

Wife Number 2 - Hannah Elgate

Hannah Elgate was doubtless a wife of Adam Hitch based on the William Elgate will written in 1727 that names granddaughter Katherine Hitch. The bequest was a rather significant one in that it was for 150 acres of land called "Jeshimon." But why does Mr. Elgate bequest only to Katherine Hitch when there were numerous other grandchildren Hitch? Was it because that Katherine was a child of his daughter Hannah Elgate and the others were not? This now seems to be the case.

Remember that in land sales of Adam Hitch in 1695 and 1700, his wife was clearly named Ann or Anne Hitch. However, in 1709, when the next land sale of Adam Hitch occurred, his wife is clearly named Hannah Hitch. Also, Adam Hitch's children came on rather regular 2-to-3 year intervals between his first in 1687 and Samuel Hitch born circa 1703/7 (and probably closer to the year 1703 than 1707). The next child, Elgate Hitch was not born until 1712/13 leaving a good-sized "gap" between those children. While it is possible that the gap may have been caused by having children that did not survive infancy, it seems more likely that it was due to the passing of the earlier wife, Ann, and marriage of Adam to Hannah Elgate.

From this information, we can ascertain that Hannah Elgate became Adam Hitch's wife sometime before 1709 and, since she is not named in the will of William Elgate, she had died by 1727.

Wife Number 3 - Ann Bundick

Another "Ann"! The Ann and Hannah Hitches through the life of Adam have led to the belief that Hannah (Elgate) Hitch was also called Ann Hitch in the records. However, a singular record from the Somerset land records seems to show that this belief was wrong:

SoLR-IK:19 of the Somerset County, Maryland Land Records reads, "Capt. Wm Whittington planter, Somerset County agst Adam Hitch of Stepney Parish in ye county of Somerset planter and Anne his Adam Hitch et uxor wife late Anne Bondick Alias Dictus. Anne Bondick of Stepney Parish in ye county aft sumonsed to appear unto Wm Whittington of a plea that they render unto him 3412 pounds of tobacco and _____ from him they unjustly detained. Any where upon Francis Allen his attorney saith that whereas ye ___ Anne for thee was sole to witt ye 8 day of Oct 1617 (sic) at ye Parish and county of within jurisdiction of this court by her certain willing obligatory which ye set in with ye seale of the said Anne signed here into Court brings ye date where of ye same day & year did acknowledge ye herselfe to be bound unto ye Wm 3412 pounds of tobacco ___ to be paid unto ye said Wm when he should be there unto required yet ye Anne whilst ____ that often required the same for ye Wm hath not rendered nor ye Adam & Anne since ye (nuptuals?) between them celebrated but ye same to render hath denyed & ___ doth deny to ye damage of the said Wm of 2000 pounds of tobacco where of he bring ____" (underlined areas are hard to decipher) The trial for this record occurred on Nov 3 1719.

Unfortunately, the clerk erroneously recorded the date of the debt as "8 day of Oct 1617" so we do not know when the real date was - perhaps 1716, but it is unsure. We do know that the court heard the case in Nov 1719.

From this record, we can see that, by that "8 day of Oct _____," Adam Hitch's wife was Ann Bundick (the modern spelling of the indicated Bondick). Since the case was heard in 1719 and it was typical for a case like this to take a while to work through the court, a date of 1716 or 1717 would not be unreasonable to fill that blank that resulted from the clerk's error.

Two land sales occurred after this time by Adam and Ann(e) Hitch - one in 1721 and one in 1722. From these records, we can assume that Adam married Ann Bundick before 1717 and that she was still his wife until at least 1722.

Wife Number 4 - Mary (_?_)

Adam Hitch married one final time in his life, this time to "Mary" whose maiden name is lost. In a land sale from 1728 (new style), the sellers are named Adam Hitch and Mary, his wife. Also, when Adam Hitch wrote his will in Jan 1731 (ns), which was probated the same month and year, he mentions his wife Mary Hitch. This "widow" Mary Hitch is listed in the Somerset Tax records until 1735 when she disappears from the records. So we might now assume that "Mary" became Adam Hitch's wife before 1728 and remain so until his death in 1731. She probably died in 1735/36 when she no longer appears in the tax lists.

Summary

From all this information, we seem to draw the final conclusions:

Wife 1: Ann (_?_), born circa 1667 and died probably not long after son Samuel Hitch was born in 1703/7 (most likely about 1704). Adam married Ann (_?_) circa 1686 and they had children William, Mary, Adam, Solomon, John, Eve, Elizabeth and Samuel Hitch..

Wife 2: Hannah Elgate, married Adam Hitch between the passing of his first wife circa 1704 and the 1709 land sale mentioning Adam and Hannah Hitch. Hannah Hitch died before circa 1716/17 when Adam Hitch's wife Ann Bundick appears in the records. She was probably born circa 1680/85. Adam and Hannah Hitch had children Elgate and Katherine Hitch.

Wife 3: Ann Bundick, married Adam Hitch before 1717 but after the birth of Katherine Hitch circa 1714. Ann (Bundick) Hitch died 1722/27. There were no known children from this marriage.

Wife 4: Mary (_?_), married Adam Hitch before 1727 but after the land sale of Adam and Anne Hitch in 1722. Mary Hitch died after Adam in 1735/36. There were no known children from this marriage.

Sources

1
Somerset Co., MD Judicials, This date is based upon depositions made in the Somerset Co.